


choices

by marvelthismarvelthat



Series: beacon of hope [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Family, Fluff, canon compliant up till halfway through the s3 finale, lincoln didn't die in the quinjet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 15:04:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8582950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelthismarvelthat/pseuds/marvelthismarvelthat
Summary: Daisy hasn't felt quite right in some months, which leads to her receiving some rather surprising news.
(series of non-linear ones shots spanning through the years)





	1. Chapter 1

December 4th, 2016

Daisy hadn’t felt… right in a month. Or was it two months now? She wasn’t sure.

It wasn’t necessarily unusual for her nowadays; not feeling right was something that had become the norm for her in the seven months since she’d broken free of Hive’s possession. There was _always_ something that didn’t feel exactly right, and she’d had to learn to deal with it in the wake of everything.

It wasn’t fun at all.

Something about this particular ‘off’ feeling felt different, though. Despite how ominous the feeling was, it didn’t feel like a Hive side-effect sort of off-ness. She didn’t know what it was, she just knew it was something else.

But she’d pushed that nagging feeling away because she hadn’t wanted to go to Jemma or Lincoln with it. They both had enough to be concerned about these days without giving them more reason to worry about her.

Then a few days earlier she’d woken up and immediately started puking her guts out, and hadn’t really stopped throwing up ever since. So now she was worried.

Which was how she’d ended up fidgeting in front of Jemma’s work station first thing in the morning, watching the scientist analyze something underneath the microscope.

“Uh, Jemma, can I speak to you for a minute?” Daisy asked, shifting her weight back and forth. “It won’t take long, I promise.”

Jemma hummed in response, glancing up at her and giving her a smile after quickly jotting down a few notes in an official SHIELD file.  “Of course.”

Daisy looked down and picked at the hem of the sweater she was wearing. Jemma was going to kill her for not coming to her the second she started feeling something wrong a few months ago.

“Daisy, are you okay? What’s wrong? You look a bit pale.” Jemma asked, her brow pinching concernedly.

Daisy rolled her eyes and internally cursed Jemma for being so perceptive. “I think something’s wrong with me.”

“Wrong with you? What do you mean?”

“I don’t-“ Daisy swallowed. “I don’t really know. I’ve felt all wrong since Hive possessed me, but this feels different. I can feel that it’s not him, but I don’t think it’s normal.”

Jemma cocked her head inquisitively, frowning at Daisy’s statement. “Well- what is it you’re feeling? Is it emotional? Is it physical?”

“It’s like the vibrations in my body changed. Like something that wasn’t there before is there now, and it’s made every vibration in my body shift. But I just brushed it off, until I started puking yesterday.” Daisy paused and wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t know, maybe it is a Hive thing. What if I’m getting possessed again? What if I’m having a side effect from Lash’s powers? Or if it’s a secondary withdrawal? What if Hive or Lash gave me cancer or-”

Jemma reached out and took hold of Daisy’s shoulders, giving her a firm shake to snap her out of her train of thought. “Calm down. Panicking isn’t going to do anyone any good, okay?” Daisy nodded. “Okay, let’s just run a few tests and we’ll see what they tell us. We can go from there. For now just try not to jump to worst case scenarios. Sit down while I get everything together.”

Daisy sat on one of the lab chairs and waited, her leg bouncing impatiently as she watched Jemma gather various monitors and a few vials to take her blood.

“You said you were throwing up yesterday?” Jemma asked, digging in a med kit for a stethoscope and a digital blood pressure monitor.

Daisy chewed on her bottom lip, wishing she could find a way to answer that without being yelled at. “Yeah, all day, then during the night, and ever since I got up today.”

“Daisy!” Jemma chided, walking over with her tray of medical supplies and immediately setting out to take her blood pressure. “You’ve been vomiting non-stop since yesterday morning and you didn’t think to come in?! You’re probably dehydrated! Have you been able to keep any fluids down?”

“I just- I didn’t want to worry you or Lincoln. You’ve both been so busy and I was hoping it was just a virus. But then I crossed the 24 hour mark and I still can’t keep down water, so I decided to come in.” Daisy murmured, internally cringing and avoiding Jemma’s eyes. Jemma’s concerned yelling was only going to pick up at the knowledge that she couldn’t even keep down water.

“Oh my- Daisy, this is not okay! You should’ve come in last night! You have a whole medical clinic at your disposal in the same building you live in, learn to use it!” Jemma let out an exasperated breath, shaking her head as she removed the blood pressure cuff and read the results on the monitor. “Your blood pressure is low, likely due to dehydration, but your heart rate is fine. Which arm do you want me to draw blood from?”

Daisy held out her left arm, looking away as Jemma methodically cleaned the area and inserted the needle. She hadn’t been fond of needles since Doctor What’s-His-Face had drained her. But at least Jemma was good at finding veins, which the whole process pretty quick and painless.

“Alright, that should do it. Hold the gauze there and fold your elbow.” There was a long pause while Jemma stepped away and got the blood analysis going. “The results shouldn’t take very long. In the meantime, why don’t I listen to your heart and lungs?”

Daisy just nodded quietly. She couldn’t bring herself to respond with her mind racing as it was. If there was something really wrong with her, maybe it was a punishment from the universe. After all the things that had happened as a consequence of her actions while under Hive’s sway… she probably deserved whatever got thrown at her.

“Oh, I know that face. That’s your _‘I’m a terrible person and I deserve to be punished’_ face, and you need to stop thinking that way about yourself right now. What happened with Hive wasn’t your fault.” Jemma said, her voice carrying that tone she used every time she got concerned about Daisy’s emotional well-being. At Daisy’s lack of response, she sighed deeply, taking hold of Daisy’s hand and squeezing it reassuringly. “In any case, your heart sounds fine and your lungs are clear. So the initial physical exam is good. Let’s just wait for the blood test to finish, and then we can think of how we should proceed.”

As if on cue, the computer beeped, signaling that the blood analysis was finished. Jemma gave Daisy’s hand a squeeze before she let go and hurried to the computer.

The next few moments felt like forever to Daisy. It was like time had slowed to a crawl.

And then Jemma let out an incredulous laugh, making Daisy startle and nearly fall out of her seat.

“Daisy… there’s nothing medically wrong with you.” Jemma turned to Daisy with a kind, but pensive, smile. “Though I guess that statement actually depends on how you feel about this: You’re pregnant. Very pregnant.”

The entire universe stopped as Daisy took in Jemma’s words. She couldn’t even breathe as panic gripped at her chest.

“I- what?!”

Jemma blinked, cocking her head to the side and crossing her arms, analyzing Daisy’s reaction. “You’re pregnant, Daisy. The vomiting is morning sickness and I’m guessing the change in vibrations you’ve felt in your body is the fetus.”

“Are you kidding me?!”                                                                                                               

“I’m as serious as a heart attack. I wouldn’t joke about something like this!”

“Holy crap, I think _I’m_ having an _actual_ heart attack.” Daisy pulled her legs up on the seat and put her head on them, trying to slow her heart back down to regular levels. Out of all the things she’d been expecting, this definitely wasn’t one of them. “Bu- But we use condoms and I’m on that supposedly awesome SHIELD birth control pill. How- fuck- what?! Oh my God.”

“Yes, well, condoms break and birth control fails. Your fetus is a product of both of those happening… At the same time.” Daisy let out a strangled sort of squeak at her words, making Jemma giggle before she continued. “Besides, we never really knew if the birth control pills would be as effective on inhumans as they are on humans. That’s why last time we spoke about this, I suggested that you make sure to use condoms if you became sexually active.”

“And we did use them, dammit!” Daisy looked and sounded exasperated now, her annoyance overpowering the panic that had been palpable moments before. “We’ve been annoyingly careful about it. You know how many times I’ve had to miss out on mind-blowing sex because Lincoln didn’t have a condom with him? Too many!”

Her words made Jemma burst into laughter. This reaction was so incredibly Daisy, and she was kind of loving it. It was the most normal her friend had seemed in the seven months since the Hive debacle.

“Jemma! Don’t laugh at me! I’m being serious! Oh my God.” Daisy levelled Jemma with a glare that was more hilarious than intimidating and swatted at her with a case file. “Stooop.”

Jemma took a breath, trying to get herself together and wiping at the tears that had escaped her eyes during her hysterical laughter. “Okay, okay. I shouldn’t be laughing. I’m sorry. How do you feel about this?”

“I don’t know. I can’t believe I managed to get pregnant, honestly. This is _just_ my luck.” Daisy sighed and ran a hand over her face. “We haven’t even had the kids conversation. So I don’t know how he’s going to feel. Hell, I don’t know how _I_ feel. I mean, I’ve never really stopped to contemplate having kids. I guess I kind of just… didn’t think it was a possibility with this line of work.”

“Well, you have options, you know? You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Jemma paused, eyes meeting Daisy’s with concern as she took hold of her friend’s hand. “We can look into those now, if you want. But I think you should take some time to process the news first. Maybe talk about it with Lincoln too?”

“Talk to me about what?”

Daisy and Jemma jumped, startled by Lincoln’s sudden appearance in the lab.

“Good lord, Lincoln, how many times have I told you to not sneak up on people like that! Especially in the lab! You could make someone drop something dangerous.” Jemma scolded, her accent becoming more prominent in her annoyance.

Lincoln chuckled. “You two are terrible super spies, you jumped like three feet in the air and I wasn’t even trying to be sneaky.” Catching sight of the gauze on Daisy’s arm, he frowned. “You had blood drawn. Is everything okay? Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

Daisy sighed, closing her eyes for a few seconds to gather what little courage she could, and silently pointed towards the monitor that was displaying her results. Lincoln’s frown deepened as he slowly moved towards the monitor, clearly concerned about what she wasn’t saying. Looking back at her, he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring half smile and took a deep breath before he began reading.

With his back turned to her as he read the monitor, Daisy desperately attempted to steel herself for whatever reaction he had. She didn’t want a tiny bundle of cells that they’d accidentally made to be the cause of a rift between them, not after how hard they’d had to work to get their relationship going and healthy after she was brainwashed. Not with how much she’d grown to love him.

The seconds dragged on for Daisy, and she started getting fidgety in her seat, her eyes fixed on Lincoln’s back. As nervous as she was about his reaction, she really needed to know.

“Holy mother of- what?!” Jemma found herself having to hold back a giggle at the absolutely gob smacked look on his face when he turned to face them again. He looked and sounded just as incredulous as Daisy had been just a few minutes earlier. “You’re pregnant?!”

Daisy nodded, her face serious, teeth gnawing at her bottom lip.

The barest ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he reached for Daisy’s hand and took it between both of his. “Holy sh-“ Lincoln cut himself off, schooling his features back into a neutral expression. “Daisy, I- are you- how do you feel about this? Do you want to keep it? I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything you don’t want to do, okay? I’ll support your decision no matter what.”

The relief that washed over Daisy at his words was obvious to both Jemma and Lincoln, her body visibly relaxing into her seat. In retrospect, she didn’t know why she’d been so nervous about his reaction. He was always trying so hard to make sure she knew he respected her decisions, thoughts and feelings, that any other response to these news wouldn’t have been Lincoln.

“I’m-“ Daisy took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, focusing on calming her mind.

This was huge. Deciding to have this kid was a decision that would alter her life, and Lincoln’s, forever. She didn’t know if she was ready to be a mother, or if she would ever be. The mere thought of bringing a life into the world, a life that would completely depend on her, was a level terrifying she’d never experienced before.

Yet, no matter how scared she was, there was a part of her that really wanted to take the plunge and do this. Something about having this kid felt right. The possibility of having a baby suddenly seemed like a beacon of light and innocence in the dreary darkness that had been a constant presence in her life for as long as she could remember. As scary and daunting as the prospect of being a mother was, it also felt like it could be the best decision she would make in her life.

Daisy opened her eyes and smiled. “Well, Sparks, I guess we’re going to have a kid.”

Lincoln was momentarily speechless, the shock at her decision evident in his face, but before doubt could start seeping into Daisy’s mind, he surged forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as snugly as he could.

“Holy shit, we’re going to be parents!” Lincoln pulled back and dropped a kiss on her lips, his hands coming up to cup her face. Then he sat down on the lab’s floor and put his hands over his face, making Jemma explode into peals of laughter again. “Fuck, I’m gonna be a dad.”

“Yeah, dude. And I’m going to be a mom. Talk about a whole new level of yikes.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which May and Coulson find out.

December 13, 2016- 13 weeks

“This fucking sucks, you know?” Daisy was laying next to the toilet with her head on Lincoln’s thigh, her breathing heavy and her face pale. “I really hope these floors are clean, by the way.”

“I’ll pick up some antiemetics when I go filch you another IV from medical.” Lincoln stroked a hand through her hair and half-heartedly smiled. “And I cleaned the floor after your last date with the toilet, I promise.”

Daisy groaned at the prospect of another IV. “When will this hyper-whatever it’s called end?”

“Hyperemesis gravidarum. It varies from person to p-“ Daisy sat up quickly to lean over the toilet and retch for the seventh time that morning. “-erson.” Lincoln sighed and rubbed Daisy’s back. “But general consensus is it usually resolves by week 20.”

Daisy sat back and wiped at her mouth with the wet towel Lincoln was holding out to her. “You mean I might have 7 weeks left of this? Ugh, this kid is going to kill me before it’s born. Maybe I should just marry the toilet.” Daisy burped loudly. “Whew, I think I’m done for now.”

She slowly stood, using Lincoln’s offered arm to steady herself and praying the movement wouldn’t make her stomach revolt. Once upright, she relaxed slightly and headed to the sink, intent of brushing her teeth and ridding herself of that nasty taste.

“You know… May’s back on base as of a few hours ago. You officially have no excuse to not tell her and Coulson.” Lincoln’s eyebrows were raised, his mouth set in a straight line that told Daisy he was done with her shit on this particular topic. “You know if you don’t tell May, she’ll probably figure it out within a few days and be mad because you didn’t tell her, right? And if, by some miracle, she doesn’t figure it out and you keep hiding this, Jemma is literally going to explode over not being able to talk about it.”

Daisy rolled her eyes and continued brushing her teeth without acknowledging him. If she was going to listen to this, she’d rather do it with her mouth clean of any vomit residue.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pressure you. I just-“ Lincoln scratched at his scruff as she started rinsing her mouth. “All I’m saying is May and Coulson are both incredibly important to you and you are incredibly important to them. You’re family. They deserve to find out about this from you, not from Jemma or I accidentally slipping up, or because they figured it out themselves. One of which _will_ happen because you know May’s going to ask the questions that Coulson didn’t when you requested time out of the field.”

In truth, she was lucky that Coulson hadn’t already asked her why she had asked for an unspecified amount time out of the field. He’d just accepted her request with a concerned look on his face, but had refrained from asking questions, telling her to take all the time she needed. But she knew May wasn’t going to accept it without a real explanation.

And he was right. After all May and Coulson had done for her, they deserved to know. It was just scary. Once she started telling people, it would be real and her life would never be the same.

“Fine, I’ll go up to Coulson’s office now. May will probably be up there trying to organize Coulson’s paperwork disaster.” Daisy glanced at her reflection in the mirror and winced. She looked pale and exhausted. Coulson and May would know something was up the second they saw her.

But she knew she had to do this, so she straightened her hair and clothes, and gathered her courage, dropping a kiss on Lincoln’s cheek as she made her way to the door. “I’ll smell ya later. Gonna go face the music. And hopefully not throw up while I do so.”

Lincoln snorted. “Good luck with that one.”

Daisy exited the room with a laugh, quickly making her way through the halls and up the stairs to Coulson’s office. Stopping in front of the door to gather her thoughts, she registered the sound of May and Coulson bickering about the amount of backlogged paperwork he had. The familiar argument made her smile and roll her eyes good naturedly, her nerves taking a back seat for a moment. It seemed that no matter how much the world changed, some things always stayed the same. They had this argument at least once a week.

Hearing a lull in the bickering, Daisy took the chance to knock gently on the door, waiting until she heard Coulson’s muffled voice telling her to come in before opening the door and stepping slowly into the room.

“Daisy.” Coulson smiled briefly, his expression quickly turning into a frown as he took in her disheveled appearance and the nervous expression on her face. Whatever this was, wasn’t good. “What’s wrong?”

The frown in Coulson’s voice caught May’s attention, making her look up from the disastrous mess of a report she’d been concentrating on straightening out for the last hour. Panic sliced through May’s heart, a concerned expression taking over her features as she took in the girl’s appearance. Daisy looked sick, sicker than she had seen the girl since they’d gotten her back from Hive.

“You okay?” May asked, her voice uncharacteristically gentle.

Daisy’s eyes darted nervously between them. She was suddenly terrified about what they’d think about this. She didn’t want to have to leave SHIELD.

A wet sob escaped her throat and tears began falling down her cheeks.

“Oh no.” Coulson stood quickly, making his way around his desk until he was at her side. “What’s going on?”

At Daisy’s lack of an answer and the sound of her sobs growing louder, he gently grabbed her hand and led her towards the couch where May was currently seated. Daisy plopped herself down in the middle of the couch without any encouragement, bringing her knees to her chest and resting her forehead against them as Coulson sat next to her. She didn’t even know why she was crying so hard. It was embarrassing. 

But she just couldn’t stop, even as May started rubbing soothing circles on her back and Coulson placed a hand on her shoulder.

It took her a solid ten minutes to calm down enough to lift her head from her knees and speak. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean t-to come in here and start crying.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that.” Coulson stated simply as May’s hand moved to wipe a stray tear from Daisy’s cheek. “And you don’t have to tell us what’s wrong if you don’t want to.”

Daisy’s chin wobbled as she made eye contact with him. “I-I’m pregnant.”

There was a long pause as both May and Coulson froze at her words.

“I’m sorry, you’re what?” May asked, her tone disbelieving.

“Pregnant.”

Daisy didn’t know what she was expecting, but May bursting into laughter was definitely not it. Even Coulson was looking at May with what looked like concern for his partner’s sanity.

May’s laughter was disconcerting, which must’ve shown in Daisy’s face because May sobered the second she caught sight of the look on her face.

“You’re not kidding.” May’s words were statement, not a question.

The inhuman shook her head solemnly, fishing out the sonogram picture she’d been carrying around in her pocket for the last week and handing it to May.

“How far along are you?” Coulson asked, his voice muffled as his hands covered his face.

“Thirteen weeks according to the sonogram Jemma did.”

“Good lord, Skye. Is this why you asked for time out of the field last week? Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Daisy didn’t even have the heart to correct his mistake on her name. He didn’t sound disappointed, he just sounded sad that she hadn’t told him earlier.

“I wanted to wait until May came back so I could tell you together.” Daisy shrugged dejectedly. She hated making Coulson upset.

“Are you happy? Do you want this?” May asked quietly, running a finger over the little blob on the sonogram that was Daisy’s kid. She hadn’t looked up from the picture since Daisy had handed it to her.

“I- yeah. I’m scared out of my mind but I’m happy. So’s Lincoln.” Daisy turned to smile shyly at May, happiness bubbling in her chest despite her nerves.

A small, genuine smile played at May’s lips as she leaned across Daisy and pressed the picture into Coulson’s real hand. Coulson took it gently and put on his reading glasses, a grin overtaking his previously shell-shocked expression as he took in the image.

“Well, being scared is probably a good thing, I think. This is pretty big, even though it doesn’t even look like a human yet.” His expression turned serious. “Are you doing okay? You seem happy, but physically you don’t look like you feel very well.”

“Um, I’ve honestly not been very okay. It’s not serious, but I have something called-“ Daisy paused and frowned. She was never going to remember the name of this thing she had. “I think it’s called hyperemesis something or other. Simply put, I can’t keep anything down. Lincoln’s been stealing IVs and anti-nausea meds from medical to help combat it. Sorry about that, by the way.”

May frowned and placed a hand on Daisy’s arm. “You’re going to be okay?”

“Oh, for sure, yeah. It’s pretty common and definitely not life threatening. It’s just unfortunate and gross.” Daisy said, attempting to reassure May as best she could. She didn’t want them to worry.

Both Coulson and May narrowed their eyes, seemingly unconvinced by her words. Daisy was sure they’d be asking Jemma or Lincoln about her health later, but she couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed by it. Their concern was endearing.

Coulson met her eyes, holding out the sonogram image to her. “I’m assuming this wasn’t planned?”

“Ha, yeah right.” Daisy paused, taking the picture back gently and smiling at it. “I- We hadn’t even spoken about kids. I mean, we’ve barely been together a year and in this line of work... I don’t know, it just never came up. Besides, even if we had thought about having kids, we wouldn’t have- Not so soon after Fi-“

His name caught in her throat as emotion overcame her. Seven months later and the pain still felt as fresh as it had on the day it happened.

May’s calloused hand grabbed onto Daisy’s, giving it a squeeze. “He’d be overjoyed for you.”

“He’d probably be coming up with creative ways to ensure the baby’s nickname would end up being _‘Monkey’_.” Coulson said, chuckling sadly. “And he’d probably read every single child psychology book out there, just to make sure he had all the necessary information to end up with the title of favorite uncle.”

Daisy laughed, wiping at her eyes. They were right, Fitz would’ve been so happy for them and he would’ve definitely wanted to be the favorite uncle. He, Joey and Mack would probably be trying to out-uncle each other constantly.

“Speaking of titles…” Coulson paused, a hopeful glint dancing in his eyes. “Can May and I claim the title of honorary grandparents?”

May groaned. “Phil-“

“I think-“ Daisy interrupted, pausing and smiling shyly. “No, I know my kid will be luckiest kid in the world if it has you two for grandparents.”

A shocked expression flickered over May’s face for a brief moment, then her eyes filled with tears and she launched at Daisy, hugging her fiercely, almost like she was attempting to convey all her love through it. “Thank you,” she whispered, kissing Daisy’s temple before meeting Phil’s eyes.

The idiot was smiling like a goof and had a mischievous look on his face.

“May, are you crying?” Coulson asked, clearly amused by the scene in front of him.              

Daisy snorted loudly and buried her face in May’s shoulder to muffle her laughter. Of course Coulson would ruin the moment.

“Oh, fuck you, Phil.”

He gasped, placing a hand over his heart. “May! There are little ears in the room!”

May sighed, rolling her eyes in mild annoyance. “Phil, just shut up and help me hug her.”

Coulson chuckled, his arms coming around both Daisy and May, wrapping them in a warm hug. “I’m proud of you. You’re going to be a wonderful mother.”

“Oh no.” Daisy’s voice trembled with emotion. “Don’t say things like that. You’ll make me cry again.”

“Well then cry, because it’s absolutely true.” May said, giving her a squeeze.

Sniffling, Daisy snuggled herself further into their arms and sighed contently. She wished she could stay in this moment forever.

But her stomach, as usual these days, had other plans.

“Uh, guys, I hate to ruin the moment, but puking is imminent and I need a trashcan.”

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> this fic started being written before the s3 finale aired. afterward i hit a bit of a standstill for obvious reasons, but i really love it so i decided to post it as a series of non-linear one shots taking place in this universe rather than a whole fic. so stay tuned!
> 
> if you have any prompts for this series, come find me at marvelthismarvelthat.tumblr.com!


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